FCP X 10.0.6 Update

While everyone was busy working or busy keeping an eye on new iMacs and iPads Apple pushed out the FCP X update they promised back during NAB. The update is available via the App Store.

For those of us working with the C300, MXF support is now native though it requires third-party plug-ins to take advantage of it. Apple lists two on its web page (see the What’s new… link below,) but it’s not known how they interact with Canon’s XF plug-in or if they supersede it. Calibrated Software’s MXF Import plug-in does look like it supports Canon MXF. Its User Guide lists metadata mapping fields for Canon MXF on page 80. The plug-in is $249.95 but you can try it in demo mode prior to purchasing. It should be noted that it mentions the need for a second plug-in from Calibrated Software, AVC-Intra Encode, which is listed with MXF Import as a bundle for $259.95.

How much of a difference will it make vs. Canon’s free XF Plug-in? Canon’s plug-in already re-wraps MXF files as MOV files – that’s better than being forced to transcode files. It would be great to know if Canon will be updating its XF Plug-in to make MXF native (no re-wraps) and to pass along the metadata. Barring that it looks like a plug-in like Calibrated Software’s MXF Import + AVC-Intra Encode keeps files as MXF, allows for export as MXF, and retains some of the metadata.

Copy & paste in FCP X 10.0.6 now includes attributes so it’s no longer all or nothing when pasting clip settings. You can use dual viewers – one for the event browser, one for the project/timeline. Each viewer can have its own scopes and the scopes can be stacked vertically (much more efficient.) Multichannel audio editing has been added along with many other changes (e.g. Red support.)